Saturday, November 10, 2007

The Marines are 233 years old today, here is a little bit about one of the greatest:

Chesty Puller was the most decorated Marine in history, he was the first and only Marine to be awarded the Navy Cross, 5 TIMES. I found this article that described what happened with his 3rd Navy Cross (emphasis mine):

The action that brought him that medal occurred on the night of October 24-25 1942. For a desperate three hours his battalion, stretched over a mile-long front, was the only defense between vital Henderson Airfield and a regiment of seasoned Japanese troops. In pouring jungle rain the Japanese smashed repeatedly at his thin line, as General Puller moved up and down its length to encourage his men and direct the defense. After reinforcements arrived, he commanded the augmented force until late the next afternoon. The defending Marines suffered less than 70 casualties in the engagement while 1400 of the enemy were killed and 17 truckloads of Japanese equipment were recovered by the Americans.